第1题
第2题
Directions: For Questions 1-5, you will hear a conversation. While you listen, fill out the table with the information you have heard. Some of the information has been given to you in the table. Write only 1 word in each numbered box. You will hear the recording twice. You now have 25 seconds to read the table below.
听力原文: Good morning, class. Last time, we started to talk about some crops and traditions of early agriculture-based society. We had said that corn was one food that dominated the food-growing activities of those early American Indian tribes that relied on farming for food. The early farmers, or the American Indians, planted lots of varieties of corn, including the kind of corn we're eating today as popcorn. The corn was prepared in different ways. It could be eaten fresh from the field, sometimes it was boiled, sometimes the corn was roasted, but most of the corn was dried, and later it was ground into flour. The advantage of this method was that the dried corn could be stored for long periods of time without spoiling. The American Indians harvested the corn twice, the first harvest was the sweet or green corn harvest. This harvest was accompanied by a ceremony of thanksgiving. The farmers thought that this celebration would protect the farmers from disaster. The final harvesting of the ripe corn and the harvest ceremony took place about six weeks later. During this harvesting, the farmers pulled back the husks of corn and braided them together. Big bundles were prepared this way and were dried for use later on throughout the winter. After the corn was eaten, these farmers used the dried husks to make different kinds of things like mats, moccasins, dolls and ceremonial masks.
The main subject of the talk last time was ______ of early agriculture-based society.
第3题
Why So Many Children
In many of the developing countries in Africa and Asia, the population is growing fast. The reason for this is simple : Women in these countries have a high birth rate——from 3.0 to 7.0 children per woman. The majority of these women are poor, without the food or resources to care for their families. Why do they have so many children? Why don"t they limit the size of their fami-lies? The answer may be that they often have no choice. There are several reasons for this.
One reason is economic. In a traditional agricultural economy, large families are helpful. Having more children means having more workers in the fields and someone to take care of the parents in old age. In an industrial economy, the situation is different. Many children do not help a family; instead, they are an expense. Thus, industrialization has generally brought down the birth rate. This was the case in Italy, which was industrialized quite recently and rapidly. In the early part of the twentieth century, Italy was a poor, largely agricultural country with a high birth rate. After World War Ⅱ, Italy"s economy was rapidly modernized and industrialized. By the end of the century. the birth rate had dropped to 1.3 children per woman, the world"s lowest.
However, the economy is not the only important factor that influences birth rate. Saudi Ara-bia, for example, does not have an agriculture-based economy, and it has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Nevertheless, it also has a very high birth rate (7.0). Mexico and Indonesia, on the other hand, are poor countries, with largely agricultural economies, but they have recently reduced their population growth.
Clearly, other factors are involved. The most important of these is the condition of women. A high birth rate almost always goes together with lack of education and low status for women. This would explain the high birth rate of Saudi Arabia. There, the traditional culture gives women little education or independence and few possibilities outside the home. On the other hand, the improyed condition of women in Mexico, Thailand, and Indonesia explains the decline in birth rates in these countries. Their governments have taken measures to provide more education and oppor-tunities for women.
Another key factor in the birth rate is birth control. Women may want to limit their families but have no way to do so. In countries where governments have made birth control easily available and inexpensive, birth rates have gone down. This is the case in Singapore, Sri Lanka, and India, as well as in Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, and Brazil. In these countries, women have also been provided with health care and help in planning their families.
These trends show that an effective program to reduce population growth does not have to depend on better economic conditions. It can be effective if it aims to help women and meet their needs. Only then, in fact, does it have any real chance of success.
In a traditional agricultural economy, a large family __________. 查看材料
A.can be an advantage
B.may limit income
C.isn"t necessary
D.is expensive
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